1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stencil printing machine in which printing operation is performed while a stencil sheet is attached to a printing drum. More particularly, the present invention relates to a stencil printing machine and a printing drum thereof, which can readily obtain information on use of a printing drum removably attached to a printer main body.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-237123, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A stencil printing machine is constructed such that a printing drum is removably attached to a printer main body. A stencil sheet that has been subjected to a stencil making process is attached to the printing drum. Ink is provided in the printing drum. At the time of printing operation, the stencil sheet is perforated, and a predetermined image is formed on printing paper through the thus-formed perforates.
The printing drum is removable from the printer main body, and hence grasping the status of use of the printing drum is difficult.
The number of print products and stencil sheets produced can be ascertained by glancing at a counter provided on the printer main body. However, these numbers indicate all the print products and all the stencil sheets which have been produced and employed in the printer main body. In the event of occurrence of a problem due to the state of use of a printing drum; particularly, a problem due to reaching the life of a printing drum, a determination cannot be made readily as to whether or not the problem is ascribable to the printer main body or a printing drum.
The present invention has been conceived to solve the above problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stencil printing machine and a printing drum thereof, which enable accurate management of use of a printing drum removably attached to a printer main body.
To achieve the object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing drum, to which a stencil sheet having subjected to a stencil making process is attachable, and which is attachable to a printer main body of a stencil printing machine for performing printing. The printing drum comprises a storage device which stores information on use of the printing drum.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, preferably, the storage device includes a nonvolatile memory.
Furthermore, to achieve the object, according to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stencil printing machine which comprises: a printing drum to which a stencil sheet having subjected to a stencil making process is attachable; a printer main body, to which the printing drum is attachable, and which performs printing operation through use of the printing drum; a storage device which is provided in the printing drum and stores information on use of the printing drum; and a control device which is provided in the printer main body, reads out information on use of the printing drum stored in the printing drum, and updates and stores the information in accordance with a print state.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the stencil printing machine may be constructed that the printer main body has a first data transmission/reception device, and the printing drum has a second data transmission/reception device, wherein the first and second transmission/reception devices enable data transmission and reception between the storage device and the control device, and are disposed in a portion at which the printing drum is attached to the printer main body.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the stencil printing machine may be constructed that the control device detects attachment of the printing drum with respect to the printer main body, and reads out, from the storage device, information on the use of the printing drum.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the stencil printing machine may be constructed that when power of the printer main body is turned on, the control device reads out, from the storage device, information on use of the printing drum.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the stencil printing machine may be constructed that the control device writes into the storage device the information on use of the printing drum which has been updated before the printing drum is removed from the printer main body.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the stencil printing machine may be constructed that a number of print products is set as a portion of the information on use of the printing drum, wherein the control device updates information on the number of print products produced during a period in which the printing drum has been attached to the printer main body.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the stencil printing machine may be constructed that the control device compares information on use of the printing drum with preset values, thereby determining whether a continuance of use of the printing drum is possible.
In accordance with the above-described construction, the printing drum (2) is provided with a storage device (25), and information on the use of a printing drum is stored in the storage device (25), thereby enabling the printer main body (1) to manage the state of use of each of the printing drums (2). Accordingly, problems relating to the life and structure of the printing drum (2) and the amount of use of consumable articles can be managed readily.